Oyo votes entire federal allocation for workers’ salaries

The Oyo State government has agreed to commit its entire share of Federal Allocation to the payment of workers’ salaries and pensions in the state.

This decision was contained in a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed at the end of a meeting between the government’s negotiating team led by Governor Abiola Ajimobi and the Labour led by Chairman, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in the state, Mr. Waheed Olojede.

Following a review of the existing MoU where 90 percent of the monthly federal allocation is committed to the payment of salaries and pension, the two parties agreed that the entire allocation would now be devoted to payment of workers’ wages.

The state government however declined request by the labour leaders, asking that the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) also be used to complement the federal allocation where there is a shortfall.

It was further agreed that a Joint Revenue Mobilisation Committee under the supervision by the office of the Secretary to the State Government, be set up to seek ways to increase the state IGR.

Addressing journalists on the outcome of the meeting, Olojede said, “In our critical review, we discovered that devoting 90 percent of FG allocation to payment of salaries could not stand the test of time, because salaries kept running into arrears. We then agreed that henceforth, the entire 100 percent of whatever comes from Abuja as federal allocation would be spent to pay workers salaries.”